Software Engineering is number one in the most desired careers list as of 2023 and is projected to be at the top 10 most desired careers in the world until 2030. With all the great salaries a huge job market, software engineering has other advantages which makes it one of the most desired and loved careers in the world.
One of the main reasons people want to become a software engineer is because of its flexibility. Unlike other jobs, software engineering allows you to work from wherever that you want unless you have an awesome computer and an internet connection.
But with all the benefits that the software engineering has, it also comes with its own cons. Here we outline all the necessary information about software engineering from what it is, how to become one, and all other related information.
Table of Contents
What is Software Engineering
A software engineer also known as software developer designs, develops, tests and maintains software applications. They develop computer programs for end users based on all the programming principles and rules.
Wikipedia defines software engineering as follows: “Software engineering is an engineering-based approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the engineering design process to design, develop, test, maintain, and evaluate computer software.”
Software engineers create the applications and the computer programs that we use on a daily basis or sometimes rarely (for some of them). From the alarm clock app the we use to wake up early to the messenger apps that we use to talk to our loved ones from far away places.
What does a Software Engineer Do
In a nutshell, a software engineer is responsible for the following tasks:
- They collect data about the needs and requirements of users and predict what kind of applications users would need and then design and develop a software based on their needs.
- Create software programs using programming languages like C, C#, C++, Python and other languages to meet the users’ requirements.
- Code easy to use software that is accessible to all kinds of users.
- Test, debug, troubleshoot, and maintain existing software systems.
- Optimize software programs for speed, efficiency, and scalability to improve user experience.
- Create documentation to help other team members and new developers to be able to work on the project (the software program).
- Apply best security practices to keep the software application safe.
- Create new versions of the software application to meet the latest technology.
- Alter existing software to resolve mistakes and errors, facilitate its adaptation to new hardware, and improve its overall performance.
- Obtain and evaluate required reporting formats, related costs, and security needs to determine hardware configuration.
- Specify necessary power supply requirements and configurations.
- Software engineers build different programs that go as follows:
- Games
- Web Applications
- Mobile Apps
- Desktop Applications
- Robots (Their Software)
- Network Systems
- Operating Systems
How to Become a Software Engineer
Here are steps to take to become a successful software engineer:
1. Choose Your Learning Style
Unlike other fields, software engineering does not require you to get a university degree. You can software engineering very flexible using online courses, bootcamps, or other non-degree courses.
- Earn a University Degree: The most traditional way of becoming a software engineer is to attend university and get a four-year degree. Many employers also require you to have a university degree in order for you to get hired.
- Take an Online Course: You can also lean software engineering using online courses. Here is a list of the best places that you can find an software engineering online course:
- Udemy
- edX
- CodeAcademy
- freeCodeCamp
- Udacity
- Coursera
- W3Scools
- Khan Academy
- Start a Coding Bootcamp: Bootcamps remain one of the most popular ways to learn how to code. They usually offer one on one teaching and so many challenges throughout the journey. Some of the most popular coding bootcamps are as follows:
- General Assembly
- App Academy
- Coding Dojo
- Makers Academy
- Code Platoon
2. Learn Necessary Programming Languages
Most people start with C++ or Java to learn coding. However, that is the wrong way of learning how to code. Those were the old days where people started learning to code using base programming languages like C, C# or C++. But now we have other easy to learn programming languages you can learn to understand important programming concepts. Here is a list of best programming languages beginners start with:
- Python
- JavaScript
- Go (From Google)
- PHP
3. Learn Other Necessary Skills
To become a software engineer you don’t just need some solid programming languages. You must have other skills as well. Here is a list of both hard and soft skills software engineers should poses.
Hard Skills:
- Strong Knowledge of Coding Languages
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Python
- C++
- Java
- Database Knowledge: SQL or NoSQL
- Data Structures and Algorithms
- Source Control
- Testing Procedures
- Debugging knowledge
- Operating systems: MAC OS, Windows, Linux
- Text editing software: VS Code, Atom, Brackets
- Cryptography
- Software frameworks
- Cloud platforms
- Spreadsheet software
Soft Skills:
- Communication
- Networking
- Problem Solving
- Creativity
- Ability to Work in a Team
- Critical Thinking
- Adaptability
- Analytical Skills
4. Acquire Experience
After passing all the necessary steps above, it is now time to gain real world experience to show off on your resume and get hired. Here are top ways to gain experience as a software engineer:
- Build Personal Projects: One of the best ways to become a real world programmer is to build awesome projects yourself. You can Google and find project ideas for a specific programming language. If you are comfortable building it yourself, you can then find other project based tutorials on YouTube.
- Participate in Hackathons and Coding Competitions: Joining a coding contest or competition is by far one of the best ways to gain some coding experience. What makes them a great option is that they give a sense of competition which makes you work hard as hell on your projects. One other benefits that coding hackathons have is that they offer certificates at the end as well. You can then use the certificates to show off to potential employers.
- Contribute to Open-Source Projects: There are many open source projects you can contribute to and gain experience as a new software engineer. There open-source projects also give you the ability to collaborate in a team.
- Get Internships: Internships are great options to get real-world experience as you work with professional and highly skilled software engineers and you will also get familiar with the coding work environment.
5. Time to Get Your First Software Engineering Job!
With all the skills and experience that you have, you must now feel confident to apply for software engineering entry-level positions. You have access to the one of the largest databases of jobs through our website. On UNjobs.Asia, we are committed to provide our audience with the latest job opportunities at international organizations like United Nations and other NGOs.
Software Engineer Salaries
Software Developers made a median salary of $120,730 in 2021. The best-paid 25% made $151,960 that year, while the lowest-paid 25% made $90,870.
And according to Indeed.com, the average salary of a U.S. software engineer is around $117,978 per annum.
Conclusion
To recap everything we discussed here, software engineering is one of the hottest careers out there. They earn a decent amount of money. It is also mentionable that in the software engineering world, the only limitation is your imagination. You can build whatever that you want and who know maybe you are the next Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg.
One last thing to be mentioned is that software engineering, with all its perks and benefits is one of the hardest career paths to take as well. You need extra amount of dedication in it more than any other field. You are supposed to put in the work as hell and learn all the hard concepts and skills that you need to. Nonetheless, it is one of the most rewarding career paths to take as well. As mentioned before the only limitation is your imagination.